


moss rosebud and white violets / ambrosia

by Kahika



Category: Mass Effect Trilogy
Genre: Control Ending, F/M, Fluff, Friends to Lovers, Love Confessions, Mass Effect Big Bang, Mass Effect Big Bang 2018
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-26
Updated: 2018-05-26
Packaged: 2019-05-14 01:43:50
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,231
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14760207
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kahika/pseuds/Kahika
Summary: Ashley and James were workout partners both on Eden Prime and on theNormandy, to the point where it became routine. After the battle for Earth, Ashley needs that routine, yet their workouts are anything but routine.





	moss rosebud and white violets / ambrosia

**Author's Note:**

> An eleventh hour fic (hence the short length) for [Eilonwy Cousland](https://eilonwycousland.tumblr.com/post/174260833803/artwork-for-fiftyshadesofgreywarden-on-ao3-for-the)'s lovely art for the Mass Effect Big Bang.

Back on Eden Prime, James had been Ashley's partner on her morning run. They'd started running with more of the unit, but as time wore on, their sisters and brothers in arms had found other forms of exercise until it was just the two of them, moving from talking shop as they did with the rest of the unit to discussing their families, their career plans, and everything under the sun. He'd even tried to help her practice her lousy Spanish, after finding out her family was Latino but she'd lost much of the language because the Alliance compounds and colonies she'd grown up on had been so Anglophone. She'd quietly concurred with Sarah's description of him as cute, but had never "gone for him" as advised, not wanting to risk fraternization. And then James had transferred to the Rapid Response Base, and it had been a moot point anyway.

Years later, finding herself back on the _Normandy_ but with him this time, they'd picked up the habit of morning workouts together again. Not a run, laps on a warship get boring, but they'd spotted each other on his weights and bar, and then started sparring together. He hadn't been _un_ fit on Eden Prime, but she almost didn't recognize him at the Vancouver base - definitely an upgrade from scruffy-cute to scruffy- _hot_. Plus, it was incredible seeing how he'd grown over the years, from his work on Fehl Prime (she'd read about it in the news but from the stories she pulls out of him piece by piece, it had hurt a lot more than the news stories had let on) to his training in N-School ("always knew you could do it," she tells him), and he was just as supportive and enthusiastic about her promotions and her new Spectre status.

She'd been surprised and delighted when he'd made a move on her at Shepard's party, but after that night of fun, they hadn't exactly tried to figure out if this was a shift in their friendship or anything, too caught up in the assault on the Cerberus base and then in the battle for Earth. It was tempting to write it off as an end of the world fling, but his eyes had been surprisingly soft as they'd hugged goodbye on Earth.

And now that they're stuck on some unknown planet with a half broken ship which Reaper forces are trying to help them fix and no Commander, one more change is the last thing Ashley wants right now.

"Hey," he says, the morning after they crash and make an initial assessment and plan. "Wanna work out?"

She's exhausted, both from the battle for Earth and the chaos of figuring things out yesterday, but she still says, "Hell yeah, I do," just for the sense of normalcy that somehow, he knew she needed.

They keep guns within immediate reach just in case the Reaper forces go back to normal. The air conditioning is down but luckily this planet's air is breathable, so they leave the cargo bay door open for air, but it's still hot enough that he ends up taking his shirt off and she ends up changing into a crop top. Otherwise, it could almost be an ordinary morning on the _Normandy_ , and it's exactly what she needs to be able to face the rest of the day.

He doesn't ask the next morning because she's already downstairs, nor the next morning, nor the next. Most mornings on this tour he hadn't asked anyway (that one morning after she'd drank his mezcal had been one of the rare exceptions, and he'd laughed what felt like far too loudly when she'd flipped him the bird in reply), he'd just welcomed her there and then come to expect her. It had just been routine. Now, it's her one reassuringly routine thing after their usual routines have fallen apart in the absence of Shepard and in this weird new reality where Marauders and Husks aren't trying to kill them.

What isn't routine is him presenting her with a single yellow flower one morning, a week after the crash. Her mouth quirking into a smile, she accepts it, even as she asks, "What's this, then?"

"Found it yesterday when we were out hunting," he says. "And I thought..." He gestures vaguely at her.

She spins the flower between her hands. While she doesn't know a lot about flowers, she doesn't recognize this one, and can only assume it's native to this planet. "Yeah?"

Looking uncharacteristically nervous, he clears his throat. "Ashley," he says, when he's more than earned the familiarity to call her Ash (and did call her Ash, in bed), but she likes hearing her full name from his lips. "I know you're trying to act like this is normal because everything else is so weird, but after that party, it's not normal for me. You know the morning after we crashed was our first time working out together since the party?"

"Mm, I noticed," she says. They've avoided sparring so far, still a bit banged up from the battle for Earth and from the crash, but she's definitely wondered if it was because the last time they'd been in such close contact, it had been with significantly fewer clothes on.

"I meant it when I said you're beautiful and kickass," he says. "But it's not just physical for me. As amazing as that was."

Tentatively, she brushes the flower's petals along his jaw. "It's not just physical for me either," she admits, watching his eyes soften the way they had on Earth. "You always know just what I need, whether it's Spanish practice, mezcal, your abuela's huevos rancheros, or a normal morning workout."

"I try," he says, somewhat taken aback to have his own confession turned back on him. He'd been so sure with his lines and his flirting at the party; this is adorable and refreshing. "So if it's not just physical for both of us... You up for one more new thing, or do you just wanna keep things normal for now?"

Somehow, it feels like the most normal thing in the world to tiptoe and kiss him, careful to keep the flower from getting crushed between their bodies, and he responds in kind, slower and more cautious and more tender than their drunken desire at the party. His hands find their way to her shoulders, then her waist, to lift her up and let her wrap her legs around his waist instead of staying on tiptoe.

Her arms are draped around his shoulders when they finally stop, and he looks the most hopeful she's seen him since the crash.

"All the new things around us are weird and stressful and dangerous," she points out. " _This_ new thing? I'll take _good_ over _normal_."

He breaks into the smile she loves seeing on him. "Al _right_ ," he says. "Still kinda want that workout, though - you got me liking the one normal thing too."

"If we hadn't just settled on this because it's more than physical, I'd say we should do a different kind of workout this morning," she reflects.

Setting her back down on the floor, he nods towards his pullup bar. "Half set and _then_ the different workout?"

She grins. "You're on, Vega."

"That's my girl," he says, and she smiles as she starts their usual regime.


End file.
